Giving up a Lease

You may have good reasons for wanting to get out of your lease, but breaking a lease is still breaking a deal, so you could be punished.

A written lease or rental deal between you and your employer is a legally binding contract. Even if you have a good reason for wanting to get out of your lease (for example, you are moving because of a job, marriage, or divorce, or the apartment is seriously damaged), breaking a lease is still breaking a contract, so you could be punished.

Chances are high that you will have to pay a charge for breaking a lease if you do any of the following:

Moving for a job
Getting a new room or house
Because of a wedding or a breakup,

These are the most common reasons why people break a lease, but they are not good enough to get out of paying a penalty. But because many states require landlords to’mitigate losses’ by making reasonable efforts to re-rent the apartment, the more notice you give your landlord about your plans to move, the more likely you are to limit or even avoid a punishment. You can also help your owner by looking for a new roommate.

Remember that if you have a set lease, which is usually for a year, you have to pay rent for the whole year. This means that if your owner can not find a new renter right away or loses money because you moved, you will probably have to pay the difference.

If you break a lease under the following circumstances, you might have to pay a fee:

If your owner has not done what he or she was supposed to (for example, by not doing maintenance or fixing things right, or by invading your privacy), you may have a good reason to break the lease. Check your Lease Agreement to make sure you know exactly what your landlord is responsible for. Write a “Complaint to Landlord” letter and keep a copy for yourself. This way, if the landlord does not do anything, you will have proof to use in court. So that you can fight a sentence in court, you need to keep good records of what happened.

If you break a lease under the following circumstances, you will not have to pay a fee:

There are a few situations in which you would not have to pay a fee for breaking a lease:

The damage to the room is so bad that it can not be lived in. This only works if the damage was not your fault, like if it was caused by a flood, crime, earthquake, or fire that was not your fault.
You have been called up to serve in the military on active duty. The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act lets you get out of your lease without having to pay a fee if you signed it before you were called up. You might also be able to break your lease if the military tells you to move.
You get very sick or hurt very badly. In some places, you can get out of your lease if you are seriously sick or hurt, or if you need to move to an assisted living center because you are sick or hurt. Look at the rules of your state to find out what your rights are.